Process and device for the wet treatment and drying of textile material

ABSTRACT

Process for rinsing or washing and subsequent drying of textile material, in which the material is treated with a bath consisting of or containing a burnable organic solvent, which comprises drying the material by burning off this liquid.

United States Patent [1 1 Birke et al.

1*Sept. 16, 1975 PROCESS AND DEVICE FOR THE WET TREATMENT AND DRYING OF TEXTILE MATERIAL [75] Inventors: Walter Birke; Hans-Ulrich von der Eltz; Franz Schon, all of Frankfurt am Main, Germany [73] Assignee: Hoechst Aktiengesellschaft,

Frankfurt am Main, Germany 1 Notice: The portion of the term of this patent subsequent to Sept. 30, 1992, has been disclaimed.

[22] Filed: Nov. 1, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 302,854

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Mar. 25, 1972 Germany 2214713 Oct. 12, 1972 Germany 2249987 Oct. 12, 1972 Germany 2249950 Oct. 12, 1972 Gen'nany 2249997 [52] U.S. Cl 8/140; 62/2; 117/46 R;

118/47 [51] Int. Cl. D06C 7/04 [58] Field of Search 8/140; 62/2; 117/46 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,437,397 3/1948 McLemore 8/140 X Primary Examiner-Mayer Weinblatt Attorney, Agent, or FirmCurtis, Morris & Safford [57 ABSTRACT 15 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEU 1 75 SHLET 1 [1F 3 PROCESS AND DEVICE FOR THE WET TREATMENT AND DRYING OF TEXTILE MATERIAL It is known that wet treating processes such as washing and rinsing are carried out in aqueous baths, whereby, depending on the type of fibre, the processes are carried out at different temperatures and, if desired, with different additives of auxiliaries and whereby the material is subsequently dried in nearly all cases. Furthermore, wet treatment processes in organic solvents are known, among which halogenated hydrocarbons may be pointed out. After treating in organic solvents, the solvents are removed from the material by evaporation and recovered in a suitable apparatus. All processes work on the principle that drying requires energy for removing the water or the organic solvents.

The object of the present invention is a process for rinsing or washing and subsequent drying of textile material, in which the material is treated with a bath consisting of or containing a burnable organic solvent or liquid, which process comprises drying the material by burning off the solvent or liquid.

As burnable organic liquids for the process of the invention are considered all burnable water-insoluble or water-miscible and in combination with emulsifying agents water-insoluble liquids; however, for reasons of safety those liquids are not suitable which have low ignition temperatures, a high heat release and high volatility. Particularly suitable are low aliphatic alcohols, especially methanol, moreover cyclic ethers, especially dioxane. The mentioned solvents are used separately or in mixture with water. It is also possible to use small amounts of such organic solvents which develop high heat release the burning off process, especially when operating with impregnation baths which contain high portions of water. Preferred baths are those which contain about 10 to 90% by volume of alcohol and 90 to 10 by volume of water, preferably to 80 by volume of alcohol.

The process is suitable for practically all types of fibres of natural or synthetic origin as well as for all fibre mixtures. The textiles may have all processing states suitable for a continuous method of operation, for example the form of cables, combed material, threads, yarns, woven and knitted fabrics or nonwovens.

The process according to the invention is carried out in the following way: the material is treated for example during the washing process in a suitable equipment with a washing liquor which contains besides the detergent additives usual for this process dif ferent amounts of one or several burnable organic liquids. Then the fabric is rinsed once or several times with a bath having the same composition as in the case of the washing process, but without the addition of detergents. This rinsing process with liquors containing a burnable organic liquid may also be carried out after usual wet treatment processes performed in aqueous liquors, such as for example bleaching, washing and dyeing.

For the subsequent drying by burning, it is particularly suitable if the liquid being on the material to be dried consists of 30 to 90 7c by volume of a lower aliphatic alcohol, preferably methanol, and of 70 to 10 by volume of water. This is obtained by carrying out the washing and the rinsing process with a bath having the mentioned composition. If wet treating is performed in an aqueous bath the material is expediently rinsed with pure alcohol in order to obtain the proportions indicated.

According to a special variant of the process of the invention the material or the liquid on the material are adjusted before burning off for reasons of safety by cooling to such temperatures'as to achieve that the moist material shows a temperature of below the ignition point of the liquid used. According to the speed chosen of the machine, temperatures'of about 1 to 40C, preferably 1 to 15C, below thecorresponding ignition point, are sufficient.

After rinsing, the material is squeezed off and dried by igniting the burnable organic solvent by means of a suitable ignition device and by burning it down completely. It is recommended to use for reasons of safety those mixtures of water and burnable organic solvents, the ignition points of which are above room temperature. In the case of these mixtures it is necesary that the ignition device is adjusted as to provide in the beginning the energy required for heating up the solvent vapors above the ignition point.

It has also been found according to the invention that mostly more advantageous results may be obtained if the burning off process of the liquid on the material is effected in connexion with drying systems already known. In special cases the liquid on the material may also be burnt off from one side of the goods and by supplying additional heat, which is carried out according to the present invention preferably while passing the material around a rotating drum.

If the liquid on the material is heated up to temperatures above the ignition point of the solvent used in each case, for example by an infrared heating device, normally one ignition is sufficient. Ignition expediently takes place close by the heating device. When working with a rotating drying drum, heating of the material is carried out for example by an oil-heated drum, by an infrared or gas irradiation device or in the case of a perforated drum by means of hot air. Additional heating devices along the burning off area are also an advantage when working with liquors which contain a high portion of water. Thus, it is possible to heat the steams up to such temperatures as to permit that these steams may be used directly or indirectly for fixation processes after drying. The addition of water also makes possible to control the speed of the burning off process. Thus, for each fibre material an optimum mixture may be found, which prevents the fibre material from burning during the burning off process of the liquor.

While burning off, a more or less strong singing effect appears which depends on the burnable solvent and on the water contents of the treating liquors and saves in many cases the usual singing treatment.

The advantage of the process according to the invention consists in the fact that the textile material may be dried after wet treating processes simply and, if desired, practically without any energy. It has been surprising that the fibre is not damaged by this treatment and that the textile technological properties, for example the touch of the material, is completely maintained. A further advantage of the process of the invention is that the burning off process especially when using methanol does not cause any substances which pollute air or water. The use of mixtures of methanol and water has the further advantage that the speed of the burning off process may be controlled in a simple way by modifying the mixture ratio, and that the natural humidity of the fibre may be better regulated.

FIG. 1 is a drying device.

FIG. 2 is a modification of the drying device.

FIG. 3 is still another modification of the drying device. Y

A dryingdevice suitable for carrying out the process and which is also concerned by the present process, generally consist of a burning off chamber. 1 having an inlet and an outlet as well as transport means for the material when passing the equipment, an ignition element 2 and means for the supply of air 3 and for leading off the burning off gases and the steam 4, as illustrated in, thescherne FIGJ. The material 5 may enter the burning off chamber. from above or from below. Fur.- thermore,.certa in s afety devices must be available. If the material is passed from below into the chamber, the ignition device must be adjusted as to insure a continuous burning of the solvent which enters the burning off chamber with the material. If the goods are passed in reverse sense the ignition device has to ignite the solvent vapors only once. The burning off process proceeds automatically, since the moist material is passed into the rising flame. In order to obtain a uniform drying of the web of fabric an ignition device must be present on each side of the web of fabric or on both borders. As ignition devices are considered for example gas flames or electric ignition devices.

For reasons of safety the burning off chamber is expediently sealed onthe top by a pair of metal rolls 6. At the lower part of the chamber an inlet or outlet slot is. generally sufficjent 7. The metal rolls as well as the inlet or outlet .slot may be provided with sliding bands 8 or other notburnable sealings. The height of the chamber depends on the transport speed of the material and on the type and quantity of the bumable liquid used. For practical reasons the length of the burning off chamber is 0.5 to meters, preferably 1 to 5 meters. The burning off chamber may have a completely or partly open form, whereby the lateral walls are completely or partly dispensed with.

-At-the upper end of the chamber are outlet openings 4 fqr.the hot exhaust gases, which may be guided directly into a fixation chamber placed next to the burning off chamber. The air necessary for burning off is supplied from the outside by corresponding tubes 3. For reasons of safety a suction device 9 may be stored before the burning off chamber, which device provides that those solvent vapors are suctioned which are given off from the moist material before entering the chamber.

A further safety device or device for stopping the machine consists of nozzles 10 which, in the open or semiopen construction type, are directed on the burning off area and which, in the closed form, are placed within the burning off chamber or before the inlet opening and, if desired, before the outlet opening, and through which nitrogen or another gas which .is not bumable and does not maintain the burning off process may be injected. The opening of these nozzles is expediently accompanied by stopping the supplyof oxygen'or air.

In the plant illustrated in FIG. II the material may also be passed from above to below. In this case the ignition device 2, the means for the supply of air'3 and the suction device 9 must be fixed at the upper part of the. burning chamber.

The elements used for the transport of the goods are expediently protected against too strong heating by a heat shield 11. Furthermore they are adjustable in height, whereby the length of the drying distance may be varied. Alongthe web of fabric transported through the drying chamber are placed heating up devices 12 on both sides, which heat on one hand the bumable liquid being onthe fabric above their ignition point and favour on the other hand the evaporation of the burnable liquid or of the water. Furthermore, they support the heating up of the burning off gases and of the steam, so that these ones may be directly or indirectly used for fixing processes. Along the drying area are fixed control devices 14 for drying, the regulation of the speed of the material dependently of the burning off area and for the safety devices. The flame is controlled for example by bilateral air nozzles 13 which are also attached on swivel mountings along the burning off area.

Another safety device consists in fixing outside the material inlet into the chamber cooling elements for the material to be treated and impregnation bath. Those elements may be composed for examle of a cooling trough with foulard rolls and a cooling drum.

The combination of the machine according to the invention with known finishing equipments is illustrated by the attached scheme. The reference numbers used have the following meanings:

5 web of fabric 18 cooling drum l9 cooling trough 20 foulard squeezing device 21 padding chamber under a slight under-pressure (311 to 911 mbar) 2 ignition device 17 infrared tunnel with infrared irradiators l6 sieve drums, at the same time for fixing 15 hot air distributing chamber FIG. III shows a modification of the above described types of the device according to the invention in case that a rotating perforated drum is used as transport mean for the material, whereby the burning off of the bumable portions of the liquor is effected from one side. The reference numbers used in FIG. III have the following meanings:

FIG. III

1 burning off chamber 2 ignition device 3 supply of air 4 discharge of burning off gases and steam 5 web of fabric 22 guide rollers for the material 7 inlet slot 23 drying drum 9 suction device 10 safety nozzles 12 heating up devices 24 outlet slot According to the invention the dry drum in FIG. III may be closed or perforated. In the closed form for example hot water, steam or oil circulating in the drum arrange the impregnation liquorbeing on the material to be heated at a temperature superior to the ignition point. When using a perforated drum hot air is blown from one side through the textile material, which answers the same purpose. The diameter of this drum de;

tuses allow to control the burning offproeessuthus,

control apparatusesfixed below or above the ignition device, may control for example in the case of a backrunning flame the above-mentioned safety devices and- /or, if desired, the speed of the machine and influence the ignition device.

The following Examples illustrate the invention.

EXAMPLE 1 A mixed fabric of polyester fibres and cotton was treated on a full width washing machine (laboratory plant), in four compartments at 9295C, with an aqueous liquor which contained 1 g/l of a non-ionic detergent on the basis of an alkyl phenol polyglycol ether, 1 g/l of soda and l g/l of a sequestration agent on the basis of a polyphosphate. Between the individual compartments of the washing machine the material was squeezed off in each case. After this washing process the material was rinsed in further compartments of the washing machine first in hot water, then in cold water and finally twice in cold methanol.

After the last rinsing process in methanol the fabric was squeezed off and passed through a plant, in which the methanol was removed from the material by buming off and the material dried.

EXAMPLE 2 alcohol. After this drying by burning operation the woolen fabric contained a uniform moisture, which corresponded approximatively to the natural moisture of this fibre. i

Corresponding results were obtained if, instead of ethanol, dioxane was used.

EXAMPLE 3 A cotton material was dyed on a jigger in usual manner with vat dyestuffs, then rinsed, oxydated and soaped at the boil in usual manner. The material was then rinsed continuously, as described in Example 1, hot and cold in water and then rinsed three times in cold methanol and finally dried by burning off thesolvent.

EXAMPLE 4 A mixed fabric consisting of 67% of polyester fibres and 33% of cotton was treated in a full width washing machine, as described in Example 1, in the following way: washing in four compartments at 50C, with 0.5 g of the oxethylation product from mols of ethylene oxide and 1 mol of nonyl phenol, per liter of a mixture consisting of 75 by volume of methanol and by volume of water, rinsing in three compartments in the same methanol/water mixture.

After the last rinsing the material was squeezed of? and passed through an equipment in which the methyl alcohol removed frqmlhe materia by b r g ff- Similar results could if for the washing or rinsing liquors the following "solvents or products were .usedi'l.

5 mols ofethylene oxide;

isopropanol with 10 by volume of water and tributyl phenol oxethylated with 18 mols of ethylene oxide;

benzine (boiling range 60 to 95C) and nonyl phenol oxethylated with 4 mols of ethylene oxide;

benzine and isotridecyl alcohol oxethylated with 8 mols of ethylene oxide.

We claim:

1 A process for rinsing or washing and drying of textile material, comprising treating the material in an aqueous bath, said bath consisting essentially of an aqueous rinse or wash =liquid and a burnable organic solvent, and drying aiid removing the liquid from the material by burning off the organic solvent.

2. The process of claim 1, wherein the wash or rinse liquid contains a monohydric hydrocarbon alcohol having 1 to 3 carbon atoms.

3. The process of claim 1, in which the wash or rinse liquid contains between 10 and 90% by volume of the burnable solvent and 90 to 10% by volume of water.

4. The process of claim 3, in which prior to the burning step, the material to be treated and the aqueous liquid are cooled to temperatures below the ignition point of the liquid on the material and are maintained at these temperatures until the ignition of the solvent.

5. The process of claim 4, wherein the burnable solvent on the material, prior to the burning step, is maintained at a temperature of about 1 to 40C below the ignition point of the burnable solvent.

6. The process of claim 1, wherein burning off the solvent and removing the liquid from the material is carried out with the addition of heat.

7. The process of claim 6, in which the burning off of the solvent and the removal of the liquid from the material is carried out on one side of the material.

8. The process of claim 1, wherein the heat released in the burning process is used for drying.

9. The process of claim 1 wherein the heat released in the burning process together with heat that is supplied is used for the drying.

10. A process for washing or rinsing and drying a textile material, consisting essentially of washing or rinsing the material in an aqueous bath and applying to the material a burnable organic solvent and drying the material by burning off the organic solvent.

11. The process of claim 10 wherein the aqueous bath consists essentially of an aqueous rinse or wash liquid and the organic solvent.

12. The process of claim 10 wherein the organic solvent is applied to the material after the aqueous wash or rinse bath.

13. A process for rinsing or washing and drying of textile materials consisting of natural or synthetic fibers or a mixture thereof comprising treating the material in an aqueous bath, said aqueous bath consisting essentially of an aqueous rinse or wash liquid and a burnable organic solvent, the organic solvent selected from the group consisting of a hydrocarbon monohydric alcohol containing one to three carbon atoms, dioxane and a mixture thereof and drying the textile material and re- H 3905 764 7 8 moving the rinse or wash liquid from the material by 10% by volume of water. burning off the organic solvent. 14. The process of claim 13 wherein the aqueous bath organic solvent mixture consists of between 10 v l and 90% by volume of the organic solvent and 90 to 5 l5. The process of claim 13 wherein the organic solvent is methanol. 

1. A PROCESS FOR RINSING OR WASHING AND DRYING OF TEXTILE MATERIAL, COMPRISING TREATING THE MATERIAL IN AN AQUEOUS BATH, SAID BATH CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF AN AQUEOUS RINSE OR WASH LIQUID AND A BURNABLE ORGANIC SOLVENT, AND DRYING AND REMOVING THE LIQUID FROM THE MATERIAL BY BURNING OFF THE ORGANIC SOLVENT.
 2. The process of claim 1, wherein the wash or rinse liquid contains a monohydric hydrocarbon alcohol having 1 to 3 carbon atoms.
 3. The process of claim 1, in which the wash or rinse liquid contains between 10 and 90% by volume of the burnable solvent and 90 to 10% by volume of water.
 4. The process of claim 3, in which prior to the burning step, the material to be treated and the aqueous liquid are cooled to temperatures below the ignition point of the liquid on the material and are maintained at these temperatures until the ignition of the solvent.
 5. The process of claim 4, wherein the burnable solvent on the material, prior to the burning step, is maintained at a temperature of about 1* to 40*C below the ignition point of the burnable solvent.
 6. The process of claim 1, wherein burning off the solvent and removing the liquid from the material is carried out with the addition of heat.
 7. The process of claim 6, in which the burning off of the solvent and the removal of the liquid from the material is carried out on one side of the material.
 8. The process of claim 1, wherein the heat released in the burning process is used for drying.
 9. The process of claim 1 wherein the heat released in the burning process together with heat that is supplied is used for the drying.
 10. A process for washing or rinsing and drying a textile material, consisting essentially of washing or rinsing the material in an aqueous bath and applying to the material a burnable organic solvent and drying the material by burning off the organic solvent.
 11. The process of claim 10 wherein the aqueous bath consists essentially of an aqueous rinse or wash liquid and the organic solvent.
 12. The process of claim 10 wherein the Organic solvent is applied to the material after the aqueous wash or rinse bath.
 13. A process for rinsing or washing and drying of textile materials consisting of natural or synthetic fibers or a mixture thereof comprising treating the material in an aqueous bath, said aqueous bath consisting essentially of an aqueous rinse or wash liquid and a burnable organic solvent, the organic solvent selected from the group consisting of a hydrocarbon monohydric alcohol containing one to three carbon atoms, dioxane and a mixture thereof and drying the textile material and removing the rinse or wash liquid from the material by burning off the organic solvent.
 14. The process of claim 13 wherein the aqueous bath organic solvent mixture consists of between 10 and 90% by volume of the organic solvent and 90 to 10% by volume of water.
 15. The process of claim 13 wherein the organic solvent is methanol. 